Stolen Moments
by imaybecatwoman
Summary: The thief and the hero. The city is saved and there's more to be done, a new life to begin.
1. Chapter 1

Selina stared out the window; the view had been her favorite part of their stay. She'd never been to London before Bruce came back from being dead and offered her a getaway. Wipe away who they were and leave Gotham for good. She had not expected to enjoy this, or him.

It was that morning, when she woke up to find him in the kitchen for the first time in two months, making her coffee the way she loved it. Cream and a splash of vanilla syrup. He had been too crippled since his series of accidents to do much after they left. His smile, his warm embrace, that caring gesture, sent her mind reeling. She did not love Bruce Wayne.

That's why she stood facing the view she loved second best in London, bags packed on her bed behind her. There was no stopping her now. She was leaving. She couldn't stand that feeling of need and being needed. It was too domestic for a stray like her.

"Where are you going?" Bruce's voice made her turn around, face masking a twinge of excitement at seeing him.

"I can't do this." Her voice was cold, unfeeling. She meant it. She had to.

"Do what?" Bruce looked concerned, eyes flickering between her and the bags. "Us?"

"There is no _us_, Bruce. There never was. There was me and then there was you. Then, now, forever."

"Selina," He reached to touch her shoulder and she pulled away as if he'd slapped her.

"I can't. Don't be like this." She brushed past him and he caught her hand, pulling her to him. "I said no."

"Selina you can't deny-"

"That I stole from you and will continue to steal from you." Twenty grand of his money sat in one of her bags.

"You stole the most valuable thing I have."

"What?" Her eyes narrowed, stiff as she allowed him to keep a hold on her.

"My heart." She stared at the ground, studying the hard wood floor and the fact he wasn't using his cane today.

Selina looked back, in awe by the looking he was giving her. Bruce pressed his lips against hers, this kiss hot and needy, passionate and meaningful. Was it a good-bye kiss? It was so similar to the kiss she'd thought was their final one. Back in Gotham. A life time ago.

She pried herself out of his hold, setting her jaw hard and spatting out the next words. "Don't say things like that. About _needing_ me."

There was that arrogant Bruce Wayne chide he gave frequently when he knew he was right about something. "I never mentioned needing you."

"But your kiss did." She gave a sly smirk as she moved past him grabbing hear bags. "I don't do the needing girlfriend thing Bruce."

"Did I ask you to need me?"

"No."

"Just because I need you doesn't mean I want you to need me. I'm not asking to tame you Selina. I'm asking you to let me love you."

"You don't even know me."

"But I want to." This time it was Selina who gave into that need. The need she fought hard to deny. She rose up on her graceful tiptoes, pressing a delicate kiss to his lips, arms sliding around him. The closest he'd get to her accepting that she needed him too.

~o~

Selina curled up on her sofa in her little walk-up flat, a cup of tea on her coffee table and a box of chocolates on the sofa beside. The news was on, the volume set to twelve. Newspapers sat on the arm of the sofa and strewn across the floor beside the table. Both of the news outlets were informing the _good_people of Gotham that the reckoning was over; the city was saved at the cost of the Batman's life.

She couldn't believe that the man had died. After eight years of hiatus and five months of imprisonment, he came back for a blazing finale. At least Gotham felt that it was his grand finale, the end of the opera, the death of the unsung hero. Selina felt differently about it. She ran a finger over her lips, remembering their final kiss. It hadn't felt like a good-bye, she'd had plenty good-bye kisses, no that felt like a _soon_. A promise. A foolish, foolish promise.

And here she sat, hauled up in her little flat, still filled with loot that had managed to avoid the thieving of the prisoners of Gotham's Prison. The stolen goods felt valueless, as Gotham sat ransacked and the caped crusader was dead.

Selina's head turned sharply, almost sensing something behind her front door. A thump, a gentle creak of the floor boards, and then a thud. She rose gracefully to her feet, swinging the door open.

"_Bruce!"_ She stared down at the wet, battered, and still clad in his Batman costume. "Bruce you're alive." There was no typical dry sound in her tone; instead there was an urgency and a relief.

"Auto-pilot." He waved his hand towards her, trying to catch on to something as he supported his weight on his knees and clutched his sides. "A little faulty but… it let me eject and save Gotham." He pulled his hand away from his stomach, looking down at the crimson stain.

"You're hurt."

"Miranda-" He coughed as she started to help him up, "stabbed me." His eyes met hers, his face etched with pain. His mask was gone as was the cape.

"That was two days ago nearly." Selina's brows furrowed together as she looked down to where his hand was. "I'm no nurse, though I've certainly pretended to be one, but you need to see a doctor."

"No time. I want them to think I'm dead." He leaned into her as she started to walk him into her flat, shutting the door behind them. "Batman and Bruce Wayne need to be dead."

"They're going to know who you are." She said with a disapproving tone.

"Who I was." He winced as she sat him onto the sofa, a trembling hand reaching out to pick up the newspaper on the arm of the sofa. "The city makes plans to construct a statue commemorating their hero."

"You're certainly famous now." She crooned, sitting on the sofa beside him, curling her legs beneath her. "I knew you weren't dead."

Bruce shook his head, turning to look at her. "How?"

"Feline intuition." She retorted, leaning back against the sofa. "Why did you come to me though? Why not Alfred, Lucius, Blake?"

"Because you're the one I want to leave town with." His voice was so matter-of-fact, after two days of fully thinking through his plans. "I have money you didn't manage to rid me of when you bankrupted me-"

"Ah, I did not do that. I had no idea what Stryver was planning on doing with those prints." Selina raised a finger in protest, wagging it at him. "Don't kill that cat who drug in bad news for you."

"Nevertheless Selina, I have money. For us."

She toyed with the idea in her mind, leaving Gotham with a former rich billionaire, getting a fresh start. "What's in it for me?"

"A new life." He let out a hiss of pain as he clutched his side. She started to get up and he caught her arm, "I'm fine. I need you to bandage me up, but not until you decide."

Selina rolled her eyes, "Well, Gotham's going to take a while to start back up again. Bridges destroyed, people killed, valuables looted and scattered around the city-"

"You seem to have fared well," Bruce gestured around the room with a laugh.

"Better than you." She smirked.

"Touche." A genuine Bruce Wayne smile.

"I'll come. But don't get some beautiful idea in that injured head of yours that I'm doing this to be with you. I'm doing this to get the hell out of Gotham and have a fresh start." Selina crossed her arms, hoping her cheeks weren't turning pink like they felt like they were.

"I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be getting the hell out of here with." Bruce gave a warm smile as he watched her leave the room to find bandaging for the ache in his side.

~o~

Selina had still chosen to leave. After the kisses, the subtle realizations - it was all too much for her. Domesticity and a happy home was not part of her grand scheme in life. As it so happened, her grand scheme in life had all ended with a change of her name and a few strings Bruce had pulled to erase a good portion of Selina Kyle from the world. Today she was Meg Rosen. The name, though not entirely similar, was a reminder of her sister. Maggie, Magdalena. It was as close as she could get without fearing she'd blow herself out of the water. Selina Kyle was still a known thief, but she was no longer on most wanted lists, hitlists, websites. Bruce was good for something.

She stood in the underground station at Victoria, staring at a train ticket in her hand. It was set to take her to Bath. Far enough away from Bruce, but not entirely out of the country yet. _Yet_. There was a rather large "yet" floating above most of her actions during the last twenty-four hours. She didn't want to leave just _yet_, she didn't want to admit her feelings just _yet_, she wasn't ready for this just _yet_.

A "yet" was better than an "if" in her opinion.

"Train to Bath leaving in two minutes."

Selina looked up at the train that had arrived at the station moments before, this train would take her away from London for good. Once she left, it would be out of sight out of mind, and she would forget Bruce. Not that she could ever truly forget Bruce. He was too damn unforgettable. Crippled or not.

She let her tickets fall from her hands as she turned on her black heels and headed out of the station. She couldn't leave, not yet.

~o~

"Honey, I'm home." She said in her mocking tone. She shucked off her coat, stepping out of her heels, and slipping the scarf off of her neck. "Bruce?" There was no reply as she continued through the little flat they were living in.

"I'm in here." The reply was quiet and she followed it back into his bedroom. Bruce sat on his bed, dead center, with the strand of pearls she had stolen from him nearly a year ago.

"You kept them?"

"Of course I did." He replied as he ran his fingers along the strand. "My mother was wearing them the night she… died." Bruce looked up at her quickly before looking back down at them. "I want you to have them."

"You want me to have them?" She couldn't think of anything witty or sassy to say in reply. "They obviously mean something to you, you should keep them."

"I think my mother would have like you Selina." He ignored her words, "She liked a woman with wit."

"I'm flattered really," She pressed, shaking her head.

"Selina Kyle, turning down an offer of pearls?" His eye brows raised in amusement. "Come here."

"It's Meg now." She inched towards the bed, taking slow steps. "Meg Rosen."

"Selina Kyle." He replied, motioning for her to sit. Once she sat on the edge of the bed beside him, he brushed her dark hair to one side, reaching around to place the pearls on her neck. Just as he remembered his father doing for his mother before the Opera that fateful night.

"Bruce." She interjected, touching the strand around her neck. She loved the pearls, but it meant too much to him to give them to her. The sentiment frightened her. But as his lips brushed the apex of her neck she leaned back against him, warming at his touch. "But they're your mother's."

"And now they're yours." He turned her head and kissed her.

Selina let a sly smile curve her lips as she turned to face him, "You could have let me steal them at least." She bit her lip, letting it slip out of between her teeth's grip. "Where's the fun in you giving them to me?"

"Seeing you in them."

Selina purred in agreement, leaning in to kiss him again. The kiss was different from the first, there was need in her kiss, passion, desire, _love_. She had kept putting this off until _yet_ another _yet_. But this was now. This was him. This was her. This was them.

"I dropped a hundred pounds on the station floor today Bruce. For _us_."

"Us?" His eyes brightened and he pulled her closer to him.

"Us." Selina pushed him playfully, "Don't question me or I might just decide to go back to thinking that there is no us. Alright?"

"Promise me this-"

"I don't make promises Bruce."

"That's because you steal them."

"Well here's to stolen promises." Selina started to pull away from him, laughing as he tugged at her, pulling her back towards him. "What? Do you think I'm a girl who puts out before a date?"

"_Selina_."

"You're in luck, I am that type of girl." She let him pull her into the bed with him, tugging at clothes and heart strings as they gave into the idea of one, instead of two.


	2. Chapter 2

"Selina where's the money?"

"What money?"

"Over two hundred thousand dollars have vanished from the closet."

Selina rolled her eyes, "Then maybe you should put a lock on the door."

"Did you take it?" Bruce stepped towards her, hands resting on her arms, squeezing gently. "Selina."

"Two hundred thousand's nothing from the four million you had saved Bruce."

"That's our money, we need to be saving it." He shook his head, staring down at her.

"I saved it for a rainy day, it's in a bank account."

"Dammit Selina," Bruce hissed, letting go of her and stiffly moving across the room. "The money's traceable."

"What?"

"When it leaves or enters the bank money's scanned, those bills are encrypted with Wayne."

"So they will know that we're in London?" She narrowed her eyes, she was sinking back into herself. When she was criticized or cornered she became a frightened cat.

"Yes. I've been deactivating it as we spend it, so we can't be traced." Bruce let out a disgruntled sigh and sank onto the sofa, rubbing his injured leg.

"Where's your brace?" Selina changed the topic, eyeing his leg.

"Bedroom." He gestured towards the room they now shared.

"I'll go get it." She wrapped an arm around her waist as she turned to leave.

"I don't want it." Bruce rasped, gritting his teeth as he flexed the muscles in his leg, stretching it out. "I'm done with being a crippled man."

"I thought you said the doctor's back in Gotham said you were in quite the condition. Missing cartilage, mangled leg, and dislocated spine." She put her hands on her hips. She was in her casual clothes with consisted of a pair of black leggings and one of his white shirts, pulled in at her waist with a black belt. Her hair hadn't been straightened in months since they left Gotham, she had a distinct feeling that she didn't have to impress Bruce. That was the one piece of her guard she let down with him, even after he convinced her to stay with him.

"I'm fine. My health is not what I was talking about." Bruce crossed his arms across his chest, ignoring the shooting pain in his leg. "Sit Selina."

She scoffed as she moved to gingerly sit on the sofa beside him, "I'm not a dog Bruce, I don't sit or stay."

"I'm aware that cats can't be trained Selina, you've mentioned it weekly since we came to London. I don't want to tame or train or change you. I would just like you to tell me why you're putting money in a saving's account."

"I want it to gain some interest," She lied, avoiding his eyes. The bookshelf across the room needed to be dusted, the trash needed to be taken out in the kitchen, and maybe the sink was running in the bath.

"_Selina_." His tone was caring, but still irritated. "That's not the truth and you know it."

"Well what is the truth then Bruce? If you're so certain you know."

Bruce sighed, rubbing his forehead before looking towards her. He wanted her to look at him and stop staring off in irritation, stop acting like every conversation was a confrontation, and just give a little. He had done nothing but give in this make-shift would-be relationship. She was the first woman in his life that he felt like he was falling all over for, instead of the reverse effect he was more familiar with.

"Do you think that I haven't noticed the duffle bag you have packed in the back of your closet-" She opened her mouth to protest him but he raised his hand, wanting her to wait a moment. "I found it when I was putting away a pair of shoes you left out. You had about fifteen hundred dollars in the bag, two sets of clothes, and a set of heels. I know what that's for."

"What?" She narrowed her eyes.

"For you to up and leave one night when I'm asleep, or when I'm out for a walk, when I'm not here to convince you to stay."

"Or perhaps it's for a quick getaway for us." She defended, not wanting him to have the satisfaction of being correct.

"Is it?" He reached out and took her hand, "Is that what it's really for?"

Selina pulled her hand out of his hold, turning to look away. Anywhere she could look. She couldn't do this, she couldn't care for him like she did, she couldn't hurt him. He was screwing her over and changing her without meaning to.

"I used to think I was good at reading people, but you're different." Bruce leaned back against the sofa, shaking his head. "You're giving me mixed signals."

"That's the life of having housing a stray cat Bruce." She spat out, curling her knees up to her chest. She turned her eyes towards him, trying to keep her lashes over them so he couldn't see her gaze.

"Selina," She secretly loved the way she said her name. Bruce put warm arms around her, pulling her to his chest. "You're going to leave aren't you?" His lips brushed across the crown of her head as he held her. "Please don't go."

"You don't mean to change me but you are Bruce. I don't want to change and I don't want to leave. Being with you is domesticating me. I think about buying groceries from Tesco, dusting the surfaces, and vacuuming. I even iron your shirts." She hissed, burying her face in his shirt.

"Then how about this, if you stay I'll do all of that."

"But you limp." She insisted, sitting up and looking at him. "You're still recovering."

"I'm not going to get better. My back's always going to be weak and my leg's always going to hurt." He stroked her cheek, "But I know one thing that won't hurt if you stay."

"What?" She rolled her eyes, knowing something sappy would come out of his lips next.

"The place in my heart where you've been sinking your claws in." Bruce laughed at his own words and the expression of mild disgust on her face. "Too much?"

"Yeah." Selina smirked, "You never struck me as the sappy sort of man."

"I'm sentimental." He laughed, "You have a lot to learn about me."

"And you have a lot to learn about me lover." She smiled, sliding her hands over his chest. "How would you feel if I gave you the account information for the two hundred thousand?"

"No." She raised her brows at his words, making him brush a finger of her brows. "If you want to have money saved up if you leave, keep it."

"Stop being so nice to me old man." She laughed, "Pearls, stolen money."

"Hey, I'm not giving you the money - you stole it this time." He raised his hands in defense, "Would you like me to be more offended by the fact you stole it?"

She gave him a cattish grin, "Yes."

"Selina Kyle you stole my money."

"Two hundred thousand." She smirked.

"I want it back."

"Come and get me cripple." She teased, pulling out of his arms and slinking across the room. "Cat versus cripple."

"Should I get my cane? Reenact the first time you thieved from me?" He rose with a grimace, putting weight on his leg.

"Would you like me to find a maid costume?" Her eyes glistened with mischief. "You need a beard and a robe."

He laughed and shook his head, "I'm not much a hermit now, the beard won't do." He hobbled towards her, smiling as she quickly moved back across the room. "Making an old man chase you?"

"You're ancient." She mocked, hands on her hips. "Already retired and you've got yourself a trophy woman living with you."

"Trophy _girlfriend_?" He asked with a questioning smile.

"Are we labeling our relationship now?" She batted her eyes.

"Only if you want." He studied her face, watching as the words passed through her eyes.

"Your girlfriend." She stared at the ground and then looked up at him. "I finally snatched myself a billionaire."

"You would catch yourself one after he's lost his money wouldn't you?" He let a sudden burst of energy help him to catch her.

"You've caught the cat."

"I think I caught her a year ago." He pulled her close, kissing her.

"I think you did too." She smiled, wrapping her arms around him. "You stole the cat."


	3. Chapter 3

Selina sat on the middle of their bed, staring down the box of memories she'd brought with them from Gotham. It was all she'd pulled together before they left hastily, birth certificate, I.D. Cards, old birthday cards, things with her name and her memories. It made her heart burn, to remember, and to know that part of her life was gone. Her name was Meg Rosen now and to the people she came in contact with, Bruce was Gregory Hawk and they were a live-in couple from America searching for jobs in London. It seemed plausible, they were a couple in a sense, though very rarely did the display affection towards one another outside of their flat. Selina could be a prude about those sorts of things.

"Selina? Could you give me a hand out here?" Bruce's voice sounded strained as he called for her from the other room. She rose to her feet, pulling on her housecoat as she padded barefoot into the next room. She wiped her cheeks, hoping the tears she'd shed were well gone by now.

"What is it?" She asked, walking into see him lying on the floor where he'd been doing his morning crunches. "Stuck?"

"Yes." Bruce looked vaguely ashamed as he stared up at Selina. "Give me a hand?" The look on her face distinctly told him he was going to have to endure a few more minutes of his spine digging into the hard floor.

She sank onto her knees beside him, "Oh but I like this view. Strewn on the floor, shirtless, slight glisten of sweat from a good work out." Her eyes glistened deviously, the tears vanishing as she tried to push her thoughts of her former life out of her mind.

"Selina." He grunted a little, pushing his hand beneath his back to ease the pain. "It's not nice to leave a cripple on his back."

"Ah, you forget I kicked a cane out of a cripple's hand." She smirked, laughing at the memory. "It's a good position for you."

"It's painful." He sighed, turning his head to the side to look up at her. "Have you been crying?" Bruce's voice was caring, his eyes trained on hers.

How the hell could he tell? "No." She rubbed her cheeks self-consciously, "Are my eyes red?"

"Yes."

"Well you keep be up at night." She defended.

"Me keeping you up at night is one of the reasons my back is so bad in the mornings," He laughed before the concern fell back on his expression. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She uncoiled her knees, rising to her feet with little effort. "I'm not crying. I don't cry."

"Help me up Selina." He tried to sit up with a hiss of pain.

Selina ignored him, turning to sit on the sofa, watching him. She should help him, she wanted to, but a part of her enjoyed him begging for her help. "I will eventually."

"Help me up and I won't question you about you crying." Bruce offered, pressing up enough to start to sit upright before he slumped back against the floor, "Dammit." He growled, rubbing the back of his head where it slammed into the floor.

"Be careful, you're a cripple after all." She teased, "You need to start wearing the back brace again."

"I hate it."

"It's for your own good. Pretty soon you're not even going to be fit for a seven in the evening bed time." She shook her head with that little, meaningless sounding sigh.

"As long as you're going to bed with me then, I don't care if we go to bed at noon." He gave her that charming smile that could melt her heart in a second.

Selina laughed, rising to her feet again and moving over towards him. She held her hands out for him to take, pulling him up to his feet with a little hiss of resistance. He couldn't put too much effort into the motion without pain so she was lifting his full weight on her own.

"Thank you." He breathed, catching her around the waist and pulling her flush to him. He pressed his lips into hers; giving her an appreciative and passionate kiss before kissing the tip of her nose. "So why were you crying?"

"Does one need a reason to cry?"

"You have a reason for everything you do." Bruce smiled, looking between her eyes and lips, looking for that subtle glimpse of her relinquishing her guard to him. Every day they started fresh. At night they would go to bed, curled in each other's arms, peaceful and enamored with each other. In the morning he would wake up with a pillow between them, all of the covers over her, and she'd be cold. It would take all day for him to start the fire in her, the flint and striker could barely get a spark in the morning.

Selina rolled her eyes, "Everyone has reasons for what they do. It's not as philosophical as you think."

"Selina."

"Memories." She hissed, pulling out of his arms. "They get to me at times. It's no big deal, stop making it into one."

"I care about you Selina, I don't want to see you crying."

"You didn't. I already cried. Quietly and to myself while you were exercising. Crying is a private catharsis." She made tracks across the room, putting furniture in between them.

"I know what it's like to have memories that haunt us, trust me."

"I do trust you." She took his words further than he meant her too, but he didn't mind what she'd said in response.

"And I'm glad for that." Bruce walked towards her, smiling inwardly when she didn't shy away from him. "Just know that I care what you're going through." He took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze.

"I need to burn some things." She said, her voice cold, unfeeling, but her hand squeezing his for dear life. "Selina Kyle needs to be burnt for good."

~o~

Bruce had left their flat to find a metal bin for them to burn her memories in. Selina was waiting for him on the balcony of their flat, staring out over London. As he approached her, he could hear soft sniffling, her back trembling as she fought herself over crying.

"Selina." He brushed a hand over her spine, surprised when she turned and held him. He had changed her.

"I'm being immature, ignore me." She sighed, pressing her cheek into his chest. "Give me the matches."

"I bought these ones for." They were the long match sticks, easier to hold for the purpose she was intending them for. She pulled away from him and he watched her move elegantly towards the pile of papers on the patio table.

"Say good-bye to Selina Kyle." She stared down at the papers, tender fingers tracing the paper. "Good-bye to Brian, Maria, and Maggie." She whispered as she light the match. The flame danced over a birthday card before catching it. Without hesitation she dropped it into the metal bin, watching the flames consume it.

"Your family?" He asked, stroking her back as she stared at the yellow and orange flames.

"Both parents are dead and I abandoned my sister. They meant nothing to me." She shook her head, turning to take his hand. "They're just burn marks on my past. Mistakes."

His fingers ran through her hair, calming her with just his touch. He was silent, there was nothing to say. He was young when his own parents died, Alfred was the closest father figure he had. And he'd failed him. "You rose above them."

"The fire inside me rose up." She replied, turning to press a kiss to his cheek. "Let it burn while we go inside." She turned on her heels and headed back inside their apartment. Bruce replaced the cover for the bin, smothering out the oxygen and reducing the charred paper to ash.

"Good-bye Selina." He said, in a way saying good-bye to his old self as well. Catwoman and Batman were gone now.

"There's wine in the fridge," Selina said, eyeing him as he shut the balcony window. "Could you get it?" She stretched out on the sofa, wrapping a throw around herself as she tried to look unphased by the burning.

He nodded, not wanting to press her into talking about that, about crying. She had said earlier in the day it was private for her and he knew her well enough to know she wasn't ready to let anyone into her private life – not even him. Not yet. He grabbed he bottle, popping the cork and pouring two wine glasses. He replaced the cork, holding the bottle under his arm as he carried the two glasses out to the sofa.

Selina took her glass, taking a long sip of the golden liquid, with a slight hiss. She watched him as she sat the bottle down, perching on the arm of the sofa and trying to avoid her watchful gaze. "You don't have to be so quiet, I'd prefer you nattering about something mundane then this silence."

"I didn't know if talking would piss you off." Bruce said matter-of-factly, turning to face her. Their dark eyes met and he watched those well-guarded walls slip from her eyes. "Selina-"

"I'm fine, I mean it. Burning the stuff is over and I'm fine." Selina leaned to rest her head on his leg, biting her lip harshly. She wouldn't break in front of him. She wouldn't.

Bruce rose, motioning her to scoot over so he could sit on the sofa. He stroked his fingers through her hair, bringing her down again on his lap. He looked down at her head in his lap, the small smile on her lips made him grin. She was beautiful, even upset, she was gorgeous. "Why are you afraid to cry in front of me?"

"Because crying is a weakness."

"Crying isn't weakness Selina, it's being able to admit that you're human." Bruce stroked her cheek.

"My father was abusive." She closed her eyes, "When Maggie, mother, when we cried or carried on he would hit us."

"I'm not going to hit you."

"I know that Bruce, if you so as much laid a cruel hand on me I'd crack what's left of your spine in a heartbeat." She knew Bruce wasn't like that. He wasn't violent.

He laughed, leaning down to kiss her softly. If only kiss could take the pain away. "You don't have to talk about it. I was just offering my shoulder."

"I'd prefer you to just kiss me." She laughed, changing her attitude to mask being upset. She knew they both wore masks.

"Oh?" He laughed before pulling her up in his arms to kiss her again. "Seems like our evening is the same as every evening."

"Vague mentions of our pasts, a glass of wine, kiss, sex, sleep?" She laughed and leaned to take a sip of her wine.

He hummed and nodded, "We have our lives down to a schedule."

"It works." She shrugged.

"We should change it. Try something new." He stroked his fingers across her back. "Talk more, learn more, be more civil in the mornings."

"I helped you up." She tensed, shaking it off with a laugh.

"I want to get to know me."

"You see me when I wake up in the morning; you've got to know me better than most." She turned her head, looking away from him.

His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He kissed the curve of her neck, "I wouldn't have asked anyone else to come and live with me, to change everything to be free."

"I'm special I guess." She purred, enjoying the feel of his lips on her skin.

"More than you know." He hadn't felt like this with anyone in years, maybe even ever. He didn't remember Rachel making him feel this pressed for time, this desperate, like he could spend his life trying to figure out Selina Kyle and know he'd get two percent through her by the end of his life.

"How romantic." She rolled her eyes, stretching so her feet were resting on the coffee table. "Personally I think I've given enough of myself away to you. You know how I take my coffee and tea, my typical order at a restaurant, you understand my sleep patterns, and you know where I enjoy a few tender caresses. That's a lot."

"That is a lot." He repeated, with a smile. He would just have to find a way to learn more, he craved to learn more about her. To learn to love her and find her love returned.

"One thing you should know is," She tilted her head, expression softening, "I don't want you to be a burn mark on my past. You're the flame of my future." She smirked as she rose to her feet, finished her wine and swayed her hips as she headed towards the bedroom, slipping her nightgown off as she walked.

That was his cue to follow her.

~o~

Thank you to a wonderful friend of mine who gave me a bonfire prompt that helped to create this chapter. She's the Patrick to my Paul if we're talking American Psycho.


	4. Chapter 4

Tonight Bruce Wayne was going to show Selina Kyle that their relationship could be more than just sexual, just physical. He knew that on a mental level they connected as well, he could make her laugh and she kept up to his standards of a witty woman – but she scarcely seemed interested in believing it herself. They could be more than she was letting them be.

"I've popped us some popcorn," Bruce said as he walked into the living room where Selina was sprawled out on the sofa. She was a sight to behold with her tangled hair pillowing her head, her laptop sitting on her chest and her legs thrown carelessly over the arm of the sofa. "Ready for movie night?"

Selina seemed disinterested by the whole idea of the evening and truth be told she'd been dreading and anticipating this Friday evening throughout the week. "I suppose." She closed her laptop, sitting it on the floor beside the sofa and moving to sit upright.

"You're excitement is contagious," He laughed, sitting the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table. "What's wrong with a little date night movie night?"

"This is a date now?" Selina raised her brows, that grin of hers curving up her lips. "How cute." She still refused to let her walls down. Every crack he put in her walls she'd wait until night to plaster them back up and reinforce them with steel beams, she was determined to keep him out of her heart.

Bruce rolled his eyes at her comment and sat down on the sofa, turning the t.v. on. "Just give it a try Selina."

"It's taken you long enough to ask me on a date hasn't it? I mean we already share a bed." She crossed her arms, leaning away from him.

"You don't seem interested in dates." He got up to put the DVD in the machine before sitting back down. "I take you out to eat all the time."

"But you've never called them a date." God, she could slap herself for sounding so petulant over that tiny technicality. What was wrong with her?

"Selina, dates are when you get to know the person you're out with. You are determined to make me know less and less about you every time we talk."

"We have better times when talking isn't involved," She smirked, stretching out languidly. "Don't we?"

He sighed heavily, "Just try."

"No." She rose to her feet, "I don't see what this "relationship" gives me. I would assume you think that I'll stop stealing one day, but I won't. I'm still Catwoman with or without the Kevlar. I clean our house, I go for walks, and we fuck. That's not the life I want to have. I don't want to sit around like a house cat and clean my paws in the sun."

Bruce rose quickly to his feet with a hiss of pain as the motion jarred his leg. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, "Selina how many times do I need to tell you this isn't about taming you this is about the fact that I.. That I love you."

Selina stared up at him, her eyes frozen on his before she looked away. Love? He was bringing… love into this. She didn't love him. She couldn't love him. She wouldn't let herself. "What movie are we watching then?" She avoiding eye contact with him as she let the words sink in, saturating her walls and making them crumple around her.

Bruce swallowed hard, letting her go as he turned to look at the t.v., "We have two options Rocky Horror Picture show or 500 Days of Summer." He stared at her; his heart ached to see her expression so unfeeling. He knew it was too soon, too late, too much. Had he misread her completely? He thought – he was wrong.

"Those don't strike me as your type of films."

"Don't blame me, I asked the girl at the counter for two options for a date." He laughed, "I think she thought I meant for her."

"500 Days of Summer." Selina rolled her eyes and sat back down on the sofa. His words were echoing in her mind.

"That's the one I put in the machine." He nodded his head towards the machine, before sinking slowly to the sofa. His leg was killing him but it was numb in comparison to the ache in his head over the fact he'd told her that he loved her and she had said nothing.

"I rented it once but never watched it." She said as the movie started to play. No one had ever said they loved her like that, in the haste of anger, in the roar of love.

~o~

"Well, that was an interesting two hours." Bruce said as he stretched his arms to relieve the tension in his shoulders and back from sitting for so long.

"Two hours of Summer not being in love with him." Selina bit her lip, regretting her words as soon as they escaped her lips.

"Ironic how life imitates art."

"Says the retired superhero." She quickly soothed the awkward moment. But she did – no she couldn't.

"We could watch the other film or go to bed." He wondered if she would chose to sleep in her own room again.

Selina shrugged her shoulders, "I'll clean up our mess and decide." She grabbed their empty soda cans and the empty bowl and took them into the kitchen. She needed to get away from him for a few minutes. To think without his presence distracting her. Three words that brought her walls crashing down. Three damn words and Selina Kyle didn't know what to say.

"Here's another can," Bruce said as he walked into the room, making her jump. "Easy, scaredy cat." His voice was light, teasing, despite the weight of his words weighing on his tired shoulders.

Selina teasingly hissed at him. "Bruce-"

"Forget what I said earlier." He shook his head, waving his hand for her to stop. "Just forget it."

"I don't want to." She said as she walked towards him, settling her arms around his shoulders. Was she trembling? Yes and she cursed her body for betraying her. "It was a nice thing to hear." She didn't say it sweetly, instead it was cold, unfeeling.

Bruce pulled away from her, tired of her hot and cold behavior. "I see Summer's effected your behavior."

"Did you really think there was some sweet little love blossoming between us Bruce?" She sneered, brushing past him with that alluring sway of her hips. "You were wrong if you thought that."

"Regretting those words more and more each minute."

"Good."

"Good." He watched as she turned to look at him, her eyes narrowing as she glared. He didn't know who was the first to move towards the other. Maybe her, maybe him. But there were teeth and lips and hands, tugging at clothes, pulling on hair; greedy, hot, desperation.

~o~

Her head was rested on his chest, fingers tracing scars that marred his chest. Reminders of his old life. His fingers combed through her hair lazily, his breathing had finally returned to normal. These were the moments in their relationship he cherished, the calm after the storm, the soft passion after their fervent passion.

Selina shifted in his hold, letting her chin rest on his chest so she could stare up at him. Her mouth opened and she sighed, ready to say it. Ready to commit in her own special way, three words. Easy? Three words should be easy for a woman who always knew what to say. "I-." One word, "I love." Two, she cringed, "I love you."

Bruce was grinning that stupid, arrogant, know-it-all smile when she opened her eyes. His knuckles brushed her cheek, "I know."

"I hate you." Selina rolled her eyes with a groan, burying her face against his chest, covering her cheeks with her hair as she stretched out atop him. "Shut up."

"Say it again."

"It was a once in a lifetime phrase, you better have burned it to your memory."

He ran his hands down her sides, before turning them so she was on her back beneath him. "Say it." He kissed her, keeping her from hiding her face. "I want to hear it again."

"No!" She laughed, swatting him away with a smile on her face. "I said it once and once was enough."

"Come on." He grinned and kissed her again, "One more time."

"I hate you." Her eyes little up with that mischievous glisten.

"Change that middle word." He smirked.

"You're going to have to convince me to say it again." She teased and leaned up to kiss him again.

~o~

A/N: So, I got two lovely prompts. One for a movie night from my "Patrick Bateman" friend and one from an anon on Tumblr for them to say "I love you". Thank you all!


	5. Chapter 5

His fists balled the sheets between clammy palms, his breath sounded ripped from his throat, his head thrashing like his legs as his face contorted in pain.

"Bruce wake up," Selina smoothed her hand along his arm, shaking firmly. "Wake up, you're having a nightmare."

He burst upright in bed, breath hissing from his lips, chest heaving. "Selina." He said her name like he was reminding himself that she was there. In his nightmare she hadn't been there. She had but, in a sense she was no longer there.

"I have them too." Nightmares. She'd had them for years. Came with the lifestyle.

"Bane, the prison, I.. He killed you." His eyes were a mixture of desperation and sadness.

She shook her head, stroking his cheek, "I'm here, I'm fine." She pulled his arm over her head and settling it on her waist, leaning into him. "Don't be silly, I didn't die."

He pressed his lips to the crown of her head, fingers tangling in her hair, and breathing in her scent. "It felt so real." His voice shook, gruff from sleep and vaguely like Batman's.

"You're in retirement kitten, your only risk is if the milk's spoiled or not." Selina laughed, leaning to kiss his cheek. He turned his head to catch her lips, that arrogant grin spreading across his lips.

"You're still here." Not just a live unlike his dream, but here unlike her several attempts to flee from her feelings.

"Surprisingly," She hummed with a smirk. "You should get reacquainted with me." He pulled her closer at her words.

He leaned to kiss her but she stopped him, rolling over to check the time. "Selina?" He gritted, running a hand over her side.

"Two hours left to get my beauty sleep lover." She purred and snuggled into her blankets and pillows. "See you in the morning."

"You're a cunning cat." He rolled on to his back and rubbed his face, "I'm going to take a shower and start my morning regime."

"I'm sleeping." She retorted.

"And I was going to ask you to join me." He rose and headed towards the bathroom, grinning as he heard the bed creak as she followed behind him.

~o~

The alarm clock was a blaring reminder that she'd slept till half noon. She could sleep like the dead if she was left to be and after their early morning shower, she'd needed her rest. Her hair was still damp from the shower as she brushed her fingers through it and rolled over. Bruce wasn't in bed and she knew he wasn't doing his exercises this late in the early afternoon.

She reached out to grab the note left on his pillow, he'd gone to Tesco to pick up the groceries she'd been planning on getting. Maybe she had turned him into a better boyfriend – or whatever he was. She stretched, yawning loudly as she slinked out of the bed and towards the bathroom. She sighed, they'd been rather clumsy in the morning. Towels, bottles of soap, the shower head, all strewn across the floor.

Selina couldn't help but give herself a smug grin in the mirror as she washed her face and brushed her teeth. Last night had been a good night. She walked back out into their bedroom, finding one of his white suit shirts to wear with a pair of her barely there shorts.

"Bruce are you back from the store yet?" It was silent in the apartment as she walked around, seeing no signs of him around.

~o~

Quarter past four and Bruce still hadn't come back from the store and he hadn't replied to her text messages. She tried to not get worried, his was a big boy, and he could take care of himself. She shouldn't be worrying. Not as much as she did. Not for someone who didn't care. No. She couldn't care.

Ten to five and he still wasn't back. Groceries didn't take that long. Now she was worried. She was just getting ready to head out to look for him when the door opened and he staggered in. The skin around his eye was blackened and swollen, his lip cut open and bleeding, his shirt torn, limping worse than normal.

"Selina-" He stumbled, falling to the floor before she could catch him.

"What happened?" She pulled him up off the floor, sitting him more upright, "Who hurt you?"

"You should see the other guy," He cringed when he tried to laugh – his ribs were broken. "Fuck."

"Easy," She brushed a finger over his bloodied lip, "I was worried sick."

"The Brotherhood of Shadows," He rasped, his vision blurring as he tried to focus on her. "There's two of you Selina."

She smiled, "You wouldn't know what to do with two of us." She teased, easing him upwards onto his feet. "Sofa." She pointed, as she lead him, worry knitting her brow. "Jesus Christ Bruce, you're not allowed to leave."

"We need to leave."

"Where?"

"France." He coughed, "We can hide there for a while. And the Germany and circle back."

Selina nodded, realizing this would be their life. Constantly on the move. They could leave Gotham but it would never stop chasing them down. "You can't be moved like this."

"In the morning." He coughed, tasting blood from his lip. "Get the bandaging and my leg brace."

"Back brace as well?" She questioned as she reluctantly left his side. He looked devastated by the mention of the back brace.

"Yes. Fine. I have a broken rib though."

"All the better, the brace will keep it in place." She smiled at him, "It's not that bad." He looked like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, it looked exactly like a shell.

"I hate it." He grumbled as he leaned back with a hiss of pain.

She came back with the brace and the other medical supplies, sitting down on the sofa beside him to start her work. "And here I was thinking our only problem today would be that I think we broke the shower faucet."

His grimace turned into a grin as she started cleaning his cuts and bruises. "I believe our alter egos reared their heads this morning." Talking about this was taking his mind off of the excoriating pain of her pouring alcohol on his wounds.

"Catwoman and Batman have it pretty good don't they?" She smirked, gently wiping the blood off of his face with a damp cloth.

"And how about Selina?" He reached up to stroke her cheek, bringing her closer to him. "Does she have it pretty good as well?"

"Yes." She breathed, turning away quickly to get back to work. Selina Kyle had it perfectly made with Bruce Wayne. He met her needs, physically and mentally, but she wasn't ready to admit she was settled into this lifestyle, this act of being them. She'd said once, and only once, that she loved him. That was more commitment than she could handle.

He smiled; not smug or arrogant, but genuine – please, satisfied, happy. "I thought I couldn't fight back, but I couldn't let them win, take me away from-" He hissed at the sound pressure she was applying to his ribs, searching for the break.

"Away from what?" She glanced up at him.

"You."

She swallowed, blushed, and pressed harder to make him clench his eyes shut and stop staring at her. She felt like she was drowning when he stared at her like that, adoringly, lovingly, and things she couldn't bear.

"Stop your bellyaching or I'm not letting you get on a flight." She teased, as she unwound the bandaging to bind his chest.

"Could you be just a little rougher with me?" He gritted, clenching his fists.

"Sure thing." She smirked and pulled tighter, almost amused by his pain – at least it wasn't love.

"Selina." He hissed, grabbing her hand and stilling her. His eyes slowly opened and he met her gaze, "Stop, I'm in pain, I don't want you to add to it. Please. We're in danger, this is no laughing matter. I need to be able to fight anyone else off that might attack us."

"I can fight too you know."

"I don't want to lose you."

"Well did you think the same about me?" She snapped, jaw set hard. "Dying's not so bad if you go together." A hint of a smile on her thin drawn lips, "I don't want to be the one left behind."

"I'm not asking you to be left beh-"

"We die together or leave our separate ways. I can take care of myself." Selina sighed heavily, trying in earnest to mean her words.

"Then we die together," His reply was resigned. He leaned forward, pushing himself with his bad arm and kissed her softly, surprised at a surge of urgency in her response. He hadn't felt her kiss him back like this yet, this tender compassion that soaked in blissfully.

"I love you Bruce." She whispered as she rose to her feet, quickly wiping away something that might have been a tear. He had to go and be gone for hours and make her think the worst. Make her care, make her love. "Looks like I'll be needing my get away bag after all."

"Pack mine while you're at it." Bruce smiled, he didn't need to comment on her statement, just appreciate hearing it again.

~o~

"Blue fireworks are my favorite," Selina said as she walked out onto the balcony of the hotel room they were staying in. Fireworks were bursting in the air just beyond the Effile Tower in a beautiful display of red, blue, green, white, and yellow.

"The red ones are my favorite. They remind me of the firework show in Gotham on New Year's Eve, I haven't been since I was eight or so."

"My parents used to take me to that."

"Mine too." He whispered with an edge of sadness as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I hope we stay awhile in Paris, I like it." She changed the topic, stroking her fingers across his back. She grinned wider as two bursts of fireworks flooded the sky, red and blue mixed together.

"The Cat and the Bat." He turned her head to kiss her. "Who knew they'd end up in Paris."

"I told the clerk at the front desk that this was our unofficial honeymoon."

"Unofficial?"

"Well our personas don't have wedding bands so I made up some gibberish about us being against the institution of weddings." She laughed.

"That's a fairly decent excuse." He shrugged his shoulders and bumped their noses together.

"Was that an eskimo kiss Bruce Wayne?" She teased, pushing him playfully.

"Easy I'm an injured man."

"You always seem to be injured." She smirked, kissing him again. Paris was romantic, sitting on a balcony with the shadow of the Effile Tower ablaze by fireworks was romantic, and being with Bruce was romantic. So sue her, she was becoming soft.


	6. Chapter 6

Her idea of a lovely evening out, a surprise for Bruce after his recovery from the accident back in London, was Bruce's nightmare. He hadn't stepped foot in an opera house since the death of his parents, all because he'd been frightened. If they hadn't left early, they wouldn't have died. He was reluctant to do this, to go through with her plan, hesitating as they stared up at the opera house before them.

"Are you alright?" Selina asked, her tone brisk, questioning. He seemed to be caught up in a memory, his features darkened, reserved.

"I'm fine." He muttered, squeezing her petite hand in his hold. He was going to be fine. The look on her face, the excitement, the child-like joy, was enough to compel him to go through with this.

"We don't have to go." She furrowed her brows, meeting his eyes. "If you just want to go to dinner and go back to the hotel-"

"_No_." It was the first time he'd snapped at her in weeks. She flinched away, loosening her grip on his hand. "I'm fine."

"Well you know how to ruin an evening," She hissed, her gaze turning into a glare. She pulled away, wrapping her coat around her body tightly.

Bruce seemed to snap out of the haze, the memories, and the remembrance of their deaths. He turned to look at her, "I'm sorry." He shook his head, his lips turned down in a frown, fitting into the etched line of years of frowning. "My parents-"

Her irritated expression dropped the second those words left his voice. She'd hadn't exactly checked up on his back story or read the news articles about their deaths. She knew very little about it, except that he had been eight. "Bruce." She bit her lip, reaching out to take his hands.

"They were shot after an opera." He slowly looked up to meet her hazel eyes, "I'm fine. I'm sorry."

"We can go back to the hotel, order room service." She squeezed his hands reassuringly.

"No, I want to see the show." He sighed heavily.

"You don't have to do it to make me happy," She tilted her head, hoping this wasn't him needing to please her. That's all he seemed to do anymore, try to find ways to make sure she was happy, settled, staying.

"We're seeing the show because I want to make new memoires, happy ones." He rested his hand on her hip, bringing her closer to him. He pressed a soft kiss against her lips, his breath returning to a normal pattern.

"If you need to leave early," She brushed her knuckles across his cheek softly.

"No, that's what happened." His dark eyes closed, remembering how scared he'd been of the opera as a child, wanting to leave early, and then.. the alley way. "We'll stay through to the end."

~o~

It was only after the opera began, that he realized that of all of the opera that they could have seen in Paris, it was the exact opera that he had seen as an eight year old boy. The woman to his right, wearing the very same string of pearls that his mother had warn the last time he had seen her smiling. When the opera came to the point that he last remembered it, not long before the intermission, his head was swimming with memoires, swimming with pain and sadness.

Selina rubbed his arm, leaning to his ear to whisper softly, "Are you alright?"

He breathed heavily, realizing he'd been tensing up, holding his breath. "Yes." He stared at the stage, entranced by the opera he had been too young to understand. Now, after years of life, he had an appreciation for the story, and understanding of the meaning behind the actions and the emotions. But there was still, this child-like fear, clutching at him.

Selina leaned to him again, speaking quietly. Other members of the audience around them were glaring, irritated by her talking. "What's wrong?" He voice and eyes showing her concern.

"This is the opera." He wiped at his brow, noticing the sweat that had started the gather there.

She kissed his cheek, wishing she could take away his hurt. "Just let me know if we need to leave."

"I can make it this time."

~o~

Selina slipped into the cab with him, her eyes had hardly left him since the opera had ended. She watched him carefully for any signs of him needing space, or to talk, or anything that she could do for him. He looked broken, that hard exterior he was so used to walling up around his emotions, completely gone.

She rested her head against his shoulder, lacing their fingers together and sighing. She was patient, waiting for him to speak, to bring it up. The cab was quiet as the cabbie drove them to their hotel, dropping them off and eyeing the strangely quiet couple as they paid.

He let her hand go as they entered the room, shrugging off his suit jacket and moving to the kitchenette, pouring himself a glass of brandy. She watched him at a distance, throwing her coat on the chair as she kicked off her shoes. He seemed so reserved, so withdrawn.

"Bruce-" She started softly, but stopped, noting the way his shoulders tensed up and he turned further away from her. She picked up his suit jacket, carrying it into the bedroom and hanging it on the hanger and putting in the closet.

He poured another glass of brandy while she was gone, moving towards the sofa to lie down, stretching out his tired muscles. All he could picture was that evening, he fought so hard and long to leave those moments in his past. They weren't repressed, because he could never forget, but they were the closest to buried as he could get them to be. Going to the opera, sitting through the opera, putting on a mask for the people around them, had done him in for the evening. It was his fault. If he had just sat in his seat, trying to make his parents happy, instead of letting his fear get to him.

That's why he chose a bat, to become the Batman. Bats terrified him ever since his fall and he embraced that fear to become something better. To become a hero – but that was just as buried in the past as the grave on the Wayne Manor bearing his name.

"So are we going to be silent and moody all evening?" Selina asked, hoping she was crossing any borderlines. Perhaps moody was a bad choice of words, bearing in mind that he was dwelling on the deaths of his parents. She watched as he lay out quietly on the sofa.

"I'm going to be staying out here tonight." Bruce sat up and finished his brandy, "I don't want to keep you up."

"You're not going to keep me up; you don't have to sleep on the sofa. You have a bad back." Selina put her hands on her hips, her eyes following his every moment like a cat and her prey.

"I'm not going to be sleeping." He gritted, shooting her a cutting glare. "How do you expect me to sleep after _that_?"

"I told you we didn't have to go. I was fine with coming back here." She rolled her eyes, angered by the tone he was taking with her.

"Either way I was going to be like this."

"Well I can tell you one thing," She snapped, "I'm not going to be doing anything like this for you ever again." She knew he was stressed, but there was no need for him to be taking it out on her. "Well either way I'm going to go and take a shower and go to bed, so _good night_._" _She turned on her heels and headed towards the bedroom, without giving him a second glance. If he needed to be alone and work through this, then so be it. She wasn't going to deal with him being silent and brooding.

Men were like that. Silent, withdrawn, unable to express what was going on inside their minds. While women could talk through their issues, not matter how sensitive they were. She'd prided herself on understanding the male psyche, but she never realized how different it was when it mattered to her.

~o~

When Selina stepped out of the bathroom, she was surprised to find Bruce asleep lying on his side of the bed. She assumed that his back had started aching from the sofa and he accepted that she was right about that stupid decision. This wasn't a lover's spat that needed them to be on opposite sides of the hotel room. She'd made and honest mistake over a surprise for Bruce and it had turned sour. That was all this was.

She slipped quietly into the bed, careful not disturb the sleeping man beside her. She shut off the bedside lamp and was surprised to feel Bruce pull her close, holding onto her as if his life depended on it.

They didn't make a sound; it wasn't the right time to ask questions or to show concern. They both needed sleep, to clear their minds, to relax. Selina could feel his hold soften, hoping that meant he was falling asleep, letting his troubled-mind sort itself out before they woke up.

He wasn't mad at her, he was mad at himself.

**A/N: Again, my lovely friend gave me the prompt of "Opera". **


	7. Chapter 7

Selina studied Bruce from across the kitchenette as she poured herself a glass of milk. He sat munching on a piece of toast she'd made for him , his gaze transfixed on the window across the hotel room. He'd been quiet and his walls fully up for the last two days. Ever since the Opera. She was getting frustrated with him; she had thought she was comfortable in silence until this. Until he was silent.

"How long is this going to continue?" She asked with a tender tone, her hands sliding over his tenses shoulders.

"How long will what continue?" He asked, his hands wrapping over hers.

"The silence."

"I've just been thinking."

Selina pulled away from his touch, "I realize that. You leave at nine and come back at five. You walk around Paris looking like a lost soul. You come back empty and silent."

"You've been following me?" Bruce's eyebrows rose as she watched her move to the other side of the table.

"I've been worried that you'll be careless in this haze." Selina admitted, distancing herself. She hadn't meant to say how worried she was about him.

"So you care now?" Bruce snapped, his dark eyes fixing on hers. He knew she said that she loved him, but did she care about him or worry about her meal ticket.

"Yes." She swallowed, "You have no idea how much I care." She quickly rose to her feet, making her way out of the kitchen, to hide from what she'd said.

"Selina-"

"No. Stop." She turned, holding her hands out to keep him away. "I don't want to hear it."

"Just listen to me." Bruce caught her arm, pulling her back as she tried to escape his grip.

"Let. Me. Go." She hissed, grabbing his hand and digging her nails in to get him to release her. "I'm not getting into this. This is about you being quiet not me caring."

"This is about you feeling left out." Bruce rubbed his hand, little half crescent moons appearing where her nails had been. "A taste of your own medicine."

"Oh fuck off." Selina rolled her eyes.

"If that's what you want then," Bruce shrugged his shoulders, meeting her eyes briefly before turning his back on her, walking towards the sofa and snatching up his coat.

"Where are you going?" Selina watched him, her heart hammering in her ears.

"What you told me to do. I was listening." He muttered as he headed towards the door.

"Don't-" She started but stopped herself. If he wanted to leave, then he would. She wasn't going to stop him.

"Why are you doing this?" Bruce asked, opening the door and looking back at her. "I'm not ignoring you to piss you off."

"This whole thing is new to me." Selina admitted. "Worrying about someone else. Thinking about your feelings instead of mine first. I hate it. I hate wondering, caring, thinking about you." She wrapped her arms around her waist.

Bruce studied her, silent, patient. He walked forward, resting his hands on either of her shoulders. "That's what comes with love Selina." He squeezed her gently, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Selina nodded slowly, tracing her finger over his bottom lip, her eyes flickering up to meet his gaze.

"I didn't sign on for all this angst for love." Her brows furrowed together. "All I've ever known is shouting, hitting, and slamming doors. That's what I thought a relationship was, for so long. But then I realized that love was a lie."

"I'm not going to hurt you Selina." Bruce pulled her close, arms wrapping around her slim frame.

"There's a lot in our pasts against us." Selina muttered, pressing her face against his chest. She loved him. She knew it even if she rarely said it. Her heart felt like it swelled with emotions when his arms were around her. She didn't know how to do this, to manage being in love with him. She enjoyed their connection, their travels, and their evenings together. But learning to be comfortable with all of it, it was a trial and she feared she was too stubborn to give in.

"You deserve someone who will love you like you deserve to be loved. Someone to bake you your favorite sweets, who holds your hand in new cities, and is content to sit at home while you're out and about." Selina's bottom lip trembled as she spoke, unable to meet his dark eyes. "After everything you've done, everything you've sacrificed, you deserve someone who's wholly yours."

"But I want _you_." His voice was clear and warm, unaffected by what she said.

"I know you do." She smoothed her hands over his chest, pressing out the wrinkles out of his shirt. "But we're too different. It won't work."

"Opposites attract," He countered, brushing strand of hair behind her ear. "We'll bring the best out of one another."

Her teeth clamped onto her bottom lip, making it stop its insistent trembling. "Stop being the voice of reason Bruce. Stop making sense. Stop saying we'll make it. We're not going to be some cute little old couple, sitting on rockers, on a porch facing the sea."

"I was hoping we'd be that slightly disturbing old couple that you see entering the hotel room next to you. You expect them to be in bed at five and silent all night. But they're the ones with the bed banging against your wall."

Selina's frown shattered into a grin, "That is a disgusting image."

"It made you smile," He dipped his head down to kiss her, surprised when she responded to it quickly. He smiled against her lips, enjoying the sensation of her fingers sliding through his hair. He slid his arms around her, holding her tenderly. She was worth compromising for. She made him smile, made him laugh, and made him stop twice and think. After what had happened, her thievery, betrayal – most would call him a fool for loving her – but nevertheless the love was there. Warming his body, making his heart beat fast, and his blood rush through his body.

"I need a nap." Selina whispered, pulling away from him.

"We just got up." He gave her that charming Bruce Wayne smile, adoringly staring at her.

"I need to think." She stroked his cheeks. "Napping and thinking go together."

"I love you Selina." He licked his lips, his eyes scanning her features.

"I love you too." Selina gave him a relieved smile before moving past him. "You can join me if you'd like. But I do mean only sleeping. No sex."

"I can live with that," He followed her into the bedroom. He was slowly finding he could live with quite a bit as long as she was there with him.

~o~

"Three times." Bruce whispered into her ear, holding her closer. She was sitting so gingerly on his lap, afraid to lean on his bad leg or put pressure on his back.

"What?" She tilted her head to the side to look at him. Her brows were furrowed together.

"Nothing." He smirked at her, kissing her cheek. She'd said those three little words three times. Not that he was counting.

Selina laughed, "Oh, look at you being clever. Nothing is so mysterious." She teased him, that sultry smile curving her lips upwards. "Your grey hair is showing."

"It's been showing."

"I thought it was bringing up the random statements time?" She batted her eyes, ghosting her fingers through his hair. "It makes you distinguished."

"You mean old?" He laughed, shaking his head.

"Now that you mention it…" She stuck her tongue out at him.

Bruce pulled her closer, rubbing his hand over her knees. "I have a gift for you."

"For me?" She grinned at him, pressing a kiss to his lips. "What is it?" She watched as he reached behind that patio chair. It was a small black box, the size that necklaces came in. She opened, fondling the pearls. "You're giving me your mother's pearls?"

"For real this time, they're yours." He kissed her, picking the pearls up and placing them on her neck. "I let you wear them to the opera and such, but I'd like you to keep them."

"That's a lot of trust-"

"I trust you with my life." He breathed.

"You saw how that went for you." She flinched away from him, remembering what she had let happen. Every day she was plagued by that guilt. Even after all of this. Even after his acceptance, forgiveness.

"That's water under the bridge. It would have happened one way or the other." He replied, stroking his fingers through her hair. "I still trust you with my life."

She blinked, taking in the words. "I trust you too." Walls were crumbling down around them. He was under her skin, beneath her palms, tainting her breath, and filling her mind. She knew there was something between them the moment she saw him walk over the bridge during the liberation. When he'd survived what she'd caused. She'd never been so happy to see someone in her life.

**A/N: So I'd love to hear feedback! I nearly 10,000 views on this and I'm basically exploding with joy. I love you all! Thanks for reading :) **


	8. Chapter 8

Venice was a breathtakingly beautiful city. Full of sites to be seen, foods to be eaten, people to be seen. But the only person Bruce had been studying all day was the woman at his side, dark messy curls around her shoulders, a thin red cotton sundress blowing in the Venetian wind, sunglasses concealing her eyes from the warm golden rays, and her lips – a never ending smile. She tugged Bruce here and there in the city, showing a side of her he scarcely imagined being there. Selina Kyle enjoyed history far more than the average individual. She'd given a half answer that to appreciate the things she'd stolen, one would have to also appreciate history – but he saw through the reply and saw that she was embarrassed of the fact that had slipped through her walls. Despite the beauty of the city, she was the only beautiful thing he'd seen, the only thing he cared to see.

She'd slept twisted sideways on the plane, managing to find a position that proved slightly comfortable but convenient in resting her head on his shoulder. That was when he first watched her features fall, for the first actual time. Sure he'd seen her in the throes of passion, seemingly bare beneath his gaze, but never actually. Three words slipping from her lips three times, but still so many barriers that he could only see the tip of her. But now, he saw it – satisfaction and a content look – something he thought he only saw in his own reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Selina Kyle was happy. Not the sort of charade of happy he'd been playing for him for weeks, that halfway there excitement, loving words, but then suddenly cold exterior. She was holding herself back; she had not gone through everything he had that made him realize that he truly had so little time. Sure, she was younger than him, in better shape, at the prime of life – but she had lived just as dangerously as he had. After the pit he had realized that he had wasted many years on being alone, he'd tried to have that relationship with Rachel, mainly because she was safe. She was the closest thing he'd known to a relationship, but he'd tried to fit a square peg into a very small circle. And of course there had been Miranda, a moment of weakness after eight long years of being alone. He had felt something for her, but in hindsight it had been misplaced salvation, when he should have been looking towards someone else for that. Who would have thought that the criminal would turn out to be his savior and that someone as innocent seeming as Miranda would nearly bring his death? A masochistic way of proving to him that he placed his trust in the wrong people, something he hadn't realized until the person assumed wrong to trust was perfect.

"Venice was a perfect decision Bruce," Selina said as she looked up at him from the edge of the fountain where she sat. She shielded the sun with a hand above the rim of her sunglasses. "Is there anywhere else you'd like to go?"

"I can make a few calls around and find a place to have dinner," Bruce moved to sit down next to her, a smile on his typically thin lips.

"We could have room service at the hotel."

"I want to take you out for dinner," He reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Are you asking me on a _date_?" Selina laughed, giving him an almost embarrassed smile. "I think we're past dates, don't you?"

"No." Bruce replied, releasing her hand and slipping it around her waist and bring her close. They blended in perfectly with the sea of couples around them, enjoying the plaza. "We've skipped quite a few steps during this," He pressed his lips to her hair as he spoke, just above her ear. "You deserve a date."

Selina laughed again, shaking her head as she pulled away from him to look him in the eyes, "You are full of surprises."

"Bruce Wayne and I are not the same man, the public image you're familiar with back in Gotham is not the same person that I truly am." He confessed his eyes meaningful as he spoke.

She cupped his cheek in her palm, fingers brushing against his jaw, "What did I do to get you?"

"You stole these," His thumb brushed over the pearls sat against her collarbone. He canted his head forward and pressed his lips to her, mindful of being in public, but caught up in the moment. As they broke from the kiss Selina brushed her fingers over his lips, her lips curled up in a smile, chuckling softly as she shook her head. "What?"

"You're being more romantic than you were in Paris, I didn't think that was possible." She slid her sunglasses up her head, using them to hold back the hair that was blowing around her cheeks.

Bruce gathered her hands in his, keeping her close as he spoke, "What is your opinion on serious relationships Selina?" He watched her carefully, the muscles at the corners of her lips faltering, eyes crinkling beneath the sun's glare and fear of what he'd said.

How did she feel about a relationship? A commitment? Nervous, terrified, sickened. Selina Kyle didn't do relationships, she didn't do sacrifices – but she had already realized that she did do love. She took a deep breath and met his eyes, "Well it depends on who I'd be in a relationship with. You se-"

"_Selina_." He laughed and pressed his forehead to hers.

"Did you mean you?" She teased, laughing when he nodded his head. "Well then, I'd have to give it some consideration. Preferences would need to be met," Her lashes fluttered as she spoke. "I don't just give everything away at one go."

"Decide after a date?" He cupped her chin and kissed her briefly, swaying her gently to accept, despite knowing full well that she would.

"I'll go on your date then." She smirked, wetting her lips as she pulled her sunglasses back down over her eyes. "We still have time to visit the art gallery."

"The idea of taking _you_ into an art gallery sounds like a bad idea." He gave a low chuckle as they stood, smiling when she put her hand on his back to help steady him, just in case his leg refused to support his weight.

"I promise to keep my paws to myself" She batted her eyes at him, looking innocent and guilty all at once. "Bonnie wouldn't steal."

"Bonnie, as you mentioned, is named after an infamous accomplice to theft."

"Bruce," She tucked her hand into his, "I think you'll find that Clyde was Bonnie's accomplice, don't be ridiculous."

~o~

The restaurant had the charm and atmosphere that Bruce had hoped it would have; candle light, calming music, delicious menu. Selina had donned a dress he wasn't aware she'd packed, something he feared she might have snatched from one of the stores they'd been in earlier in the day, but he didn't mention it – didn't accuse her. It was a crimson color, just above the knees, with a rather sweeping downward neckline that caught his attention. Of course he'd seen that sweeping V-line the moment she'd stepped out of the bathroom with her hair straightened and the dress on. He'd donned a black suit shirt, slacks, and gelled his hair back in a way he hadn't done in months.

Selina wished the white wine in her glass, her gaze on him from beneath her lashes. "So, Bruce what is it that you wanted to talk about on our date?"

He smirked at her from across the table, "Who said I was done watching you yet?" He felt vaguely like his old self in this moment, but Selina was far from being like the women that typically sat opposite of him. Selina was different from every woman he'd ever met.

"Likewise," she retorted with a similar smirk on her face. She was actually nervous; it took every ounce of willpower not to tremble. She'd been on hundreds of dates, set up by wealthy men while their wives were away. The conversation would be mindless; because of course they thought she was mindless. And they would end on her skipping out before they got the idea that their date was one of 'those'. Despite what many would think of the femme fatale, Bruce was number sixteen out of twenty-six years of life. She was certain the older man had a severely longer list of names – but she doubted that any of those other names had felt this way.

"You look lovely tonight," Bruce smiled, reaching across the table for her hand.

"Thank you," She purred back, turning as the waiter approached. He spoke in Italian, a language she didn't know at all. Bruce listened, a wry smile of amusement appearing on his lips after the man gestured between the two of them. "What did he say?"

Bruce replied, fighting the urge to laugh in front of the waiter, "How many years was this anniversary." He winked at her, unable to see the blush forming quickly on her cheeks.

"Ah," She replied quietly, biting her bottom lip as Bruce told the waiter both of their orders, leaving them alone at the table, "And what did you tell him?"

"I said five years," Bruce flashed a charming smile as she squeezed her hand. "I thought explaining that this was a date would exhaust my knowledge in the language."

"What would we be doing in five years?" Selina mused with a small laugh.

"We're just going to have to find out," Bruce replied with a serious tone in his voice.

Selina took a deep breath, her eyes locking on his, "I think we might just." She reached for her wine glass, taking a long drink of the pale liquid. "You think you could handle me for five years?"

"And many more." He winked at her, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze as he lifted his own glass to his lips.

~o~

She had undoubtedly fallen head over heels for Bruce. Of course she'd admitted those three little words to him on three little occasions, but now she realized that she honestly meant it. She couldn't remember a time that curling up beside someone beneath the covers of a hotel bed felt so right. The only memories that like were with Bruce. Accepting his offer to leave Gotham had been a Godsend, her salvation. She had had no clue where she fit in to the destroyed Gotham that was left in the wake of the Liberation and more so, where she had been left after Batman's "death". She didn't necessarily believe in a higher power, but right now – she thought she did. That maybe, just maybe, someone was watching over them, leading them to where they needed to be. Or maybe, salvation wasn't found in a higher being, but in the arms of the man beside her. Bruce Wayne, flippant billionaire, with a tender side for the misfortunate, justice, and cats. It was the first time she'd felt truly happy in her life.

**A/N: I'm not sure where to continue this to as of yet. I'm sorry for the delay! I rp as Selina Kyle and I get distracted by my Bruces instead of writing this. That and work and my education. Yikes I've been busy. **


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